I think the appeal of solar panels on a car roof is that you don't need any infrastructure at all. Just park you car wherever and it automagically recharges.

But you cannot rely on that every day. On cloudy day it’s not going to help you. So while it maybe fine for a PHEV, I still think than having PV installations over every parking lot makes more sense.

>I still think than having PV installations over every parking lot makes more

If this was a planned economy I would agree and vote in the next party meeting to put chargers in every parking lot and power them with transparent PV over the parking spaces.

But since I live in a capitalist country I can't make other people invest tens of thousands of dollars just because it makes more sense than putting solar panels on my car. I mean, in some cases I still can, but there's a significant market for the people that can't effect such a change and have to make due with the less efficient solar powered car.

Exactly. Home ownership is at 64% in 2018 in the US. Solar roof installation requires landlord/HOA permission and permits in apartments/condo units. Lots of cars in the southeastern/southwestern US are parked in direct sunlight. At the very least, getting into an ambient temperature car is a great feeling in these places

There would be a lot of permits though, delays, etc. I like the idea of having smaller panels as one offs.